Maja Bajevic

June 27–October 4, 2004

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center presents the first solo exhibition in the United States of artist Maja Bajevic (b. 1967, Sarajevo, lives in Paris). In the P.S.1 painting gallery, Bajevic will present a recent video work and a sound installation.

Maja Bajevic's work directly comments on prominent issues in recent history such as collective identity, tragedy, destiny, the construction and deconstruction of history, ideology, and sociology. Acting as a catalyst, her work creates narratives that reference memory and identity, reflecting on the past and present of local socio-political events that possess global implications and referencing a collective destiny and the fragments of a shattered history. Soliciting the observer's attention in order to understand her subtle language, Bajevic's works range from video, to light and sound installations, to performance.

P.S.1 will present the video Double bubble, in which Bajevic addresses contemporary misuse of religion by displaying two new forms of religion. The first of these, TECHNO, is a religion developed to fulfill the personal needs of the individual. To exemplify this, Bajevic claims things such as: "I don't eat pork," or "I do not drink during Ramadan but I take ecstasy." An example of TURBO religion (a religion expressed through nationalistic, hate-based activities) would be the statement, "I did all that in the name of God." With this video, Bajevic attempts to demonstrate the displacement one can feel in a world of hidden lies and violence.

The main work on view is the large sound installation Avanti Popolo, which displays nationalistic songs from 30 different countries from all parts of the world, sung by representatives of many different cultures and nationalities. While Bajevic illuminates the aggressive nature of each piece, she also highlights the absurd nature of these songs by combining them. The songs play as viewers walk around the installation and approach each of the thirty stereos.